Android 8 named as Oreo

After over twelve months of development and testing, not to mention the speculation on what confection based name they would come up with, Android 8 has been announced as Android Oreo.

Google has already begun pushing the sources to Android Open Source Project (AOSP) for everyone to access while Pixel and Nexus 5X/6P builds have entered carrier testing and are expect to start rolling out in phases over the next several weeks, alongside Pixel C and Nexus Player.

Android Beta users will receive the update to the final version today (22/08/17) and images are available to download and flash manually. By the end of this year, hardware makers including HTC, Nokia, Samsung and Sony are scheduled to be launching or upgrading new devices to Android 8.0 Oreo.

The focus in Android 8.0 Oreo was on creating fluid experiences that make Android more powerful and easy to use. The new picture-in-picture features lets users manage two tasks simultaneously on any size screen, and it's said that its easy for apps to support it.

New Notification dots extend the reach of notifications and offer a new way to surface activity in your apps. The Autofill framework simplifies how users set up a new device and synchronise their passwords. Apps using form data can optimise their apps for Autofill, and password manager apps can use the new APIs to make their services available to users in their favourite apps. Autofill will roll out fully over the next few weeks as part of an update to Google Play Services.

There’s also Android Vitals, a project focused on optimizing battery life, start-up time, graphics rendering, and stability, while giving developers better visibility over the health of their apps. Google has also introduced new background limits on location and wi-fi scans and changes in the way apps run in the background. These boundaries are designed to prevent unintentional overuse of battery and memory and apply to all apps.

To comment on what you've read here, click the Discussion tab and post a reply.